Transcript: Mayor de Blasio, Commissioner Trottenberg Deliver Remarks at a Rally for More Speed Cameras Around Schools

June 9, 2017

Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg: Paul, thank you for that amazing, rousing introduction, and I want to thank all the people I’m standing with here today – the incredible coalition – Families for Safe Streets, Transportation Alternative, the supporting groups, the incredible elected leadership we have at both the local level and the state level. And it’s wonderful to see kids and families here. I have to say Vision Zero and the work we’ve been able to do on speed cameras, it’s really been a team effort, and I want to echo what Paul has said. We really believe these cameras have helped saved lives on our city streets. As he said we’ve been bucking the national trend. The past few years nationwide traffic fatalities on our roadways went up 14 percent. Here in New York City they came down 22 percent.

And I want to recommend, we just put out a study where we took a deeper dive and really looked at the effects of these cameras. In places where we installed these cameras, we see speeding go down by 60 percent. We see injuries go down by 14 percent, and we also we see that over 80 percent of the people who get that first ticket, they don’t get another cause the cameras shows them that they should be driving at a safe speed, and most people when they get that first ticket they do.

So we have a common sense request of our leaders up in Albany, and we’re lucky to be joined by so many of them here today – give the city the chance to deploy more of these cameras at schools all over the city and the chance to let those cameras operate at the most dangerous times of days and on all the streets where we see our school children crossing. This is very, very important to continue to save lives in this city. We were up in Albany a few weeks ago. Many of the people who are assembled here today will be up again to try and press our case with our elected officials to pass a speed camera bill that will give us the chance to save lives.

Thank you.

[…]

NYPD Transportation Chief Thomas Chan: Very happy to join the Families for Safe Streets and our advocates, Mayor de Blasio, DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, and all our elected officials here today. The NYPD has worked closely with all our partners to further the Vision Zero goals. Speed enforcement and speed cameras certainly help save lives. We know that drivers who elect to speed in their vehicles are a major cause of serious collisions throughout the city. Speed cameras can effectively capture this violation and send a strong message to that motorist that speeding will not be tolerated. Additional speed cameras at key locations – a proven tool in reducing vehicle speeds will help us accomplish this, and by all means speed cameras will support our officers. They do not replace our police officers who are doing speed enforcement. They will support our officers. Today we have an opportunity to protect our school children and make New York City streets much safer. Let’s all work together to achieve this. Thank you.

[…]

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Thank you, everyone. Thank you for being out here fighting for the changes we need. Give yourselves a round of applause.

[Applause]

I want to thank you, Paul, and everyone at Transportation Alternatives. You’ve been fighting this battle for a long time for safer streets, and you’ve had a huge impact on this equation in favor of safety, in favor of pedestrians, in favor of bicyclists. We’re making a lot of progress, and thank you to everyone at Transportation Alternatives. Give them a round of applause, too.

[Applause]

There are some heroes here who have fought through their own pain, who suffered tragedies, and decided to turn the pain into action. It has made a huge difference. I value all the elected officials are here. I value the members of my administration who are here, but I particularly value the family members who have been unrelenting. They have been the ultimate difference makers in this fight, and there are a lot of people alive today because these family members stood up and said – never again, I’m not going to let this happen to another family. So I want to thank some of them who are with us. Please thank Zane Walker whose best friend was killed by a driver. Thank Jacob Russo the brother of Ariel Russo who was killed by a driver. Thank Preston Liao the brother of Allison Liao who was killed by a driver.

[Applause]

And the family members have been very clear they are going up to Albany, and they’re not leaving until they get progress. I want to thank again the elected officials who are here who have been fighting here in the city and up in Albany for these changes. These folks deserve a lot of credit. They have been front and center in getting done the progress we’ve gotten done so far. I also want to say I’m very proud of two members of my administration who are absolute heroes of Vision Zero. If you like the changes, if you like the live saved, and then give a big, warm thanks to Polly Trottenberg and Tom Chan for all they have done.

[Cheers, people in crowd yell ‘thank you!’]

Mayor: I want to remind everyone, remember why Vision Zero became the policy of this city – because the number of traffic deaths was almost as high as the number of murders each year in New York City a few years ago. It was unthinkable how bad it had gotten. More and more people had cars, and too many of them were using their cars recklessly. We didn’t have the right laws. We didn’t have the right rules, and it all came together in a very, very dangerous way. This city has done a great job driving down murder, but for a lot of years we were not doing a good job stopping traffic fatalities. They were going in the wrong direction. Vision Zero came along and changed all of that.

I’m very proud of this policy. It was controversial, my friends. A lot of people didn’t like the sound of Vision Zero. A lot of people in different communities tried to stop what we were doing with Vision Zero, but we all persevered together. Everyone here helped to achieve it. Now the proof is there. The jury has come back. 2016 – the fewest traffic deaths in the history of New York City – as simple as that.

[Applause]

And we expect to do better every single year, and Paul is right. We have invested more each year, we will keep investing more because this is what we’re here to do – save lives. Now comes the piece of the equation we don’t control, which is in Albany. And we need you more than ever – everyone here.

There is a piece of legislation that simply says since speed cameras around school have been working and saving lives – saving children’s lives – we should have them around more schools.

Isn’t that the simplest thing you’ve heard in a long time?

We should be protecting our children. We know that speed cameras save the lives of our children. In school zones with speed cameras – this is a fact – speeding has been reduced by more than 60 percent. Speeding – number one cause of crashes and deaths has been reduced by more than 60 percent because of the presence of those speed cameras. Everyone understands why that is true.  Everyone understands how the speed cameras change behavior. We know that there are not cameras where there need to be in other places. Eighty-five percent – this is a stunning statistics – 85 percent of traffic deaths and serious injuries happen in places and at times that the state law will not allow us to install cameras.

So if I said to you, we’re losing lives, we’re seeing people grievously injured – children, seniors – and we actually could stop it with the stroke of a pen, everyone here would say – great, pass the law, get it done. That’s how straightforward it is.

The question everyone in Albany has to be asked is do you want to save lives? Do you want to protect your children? Do you want to protect our seniors? It’s as simple as that.

If you do, pass this law. Let us put in the cameras around the schools that need them, so we can save lives. Nothing more complicated than that, and I’ll finish with this. I know everyone here feels this, but we have to say it wherever we go. Each life we save – we have to think of that as our mother, our father, our brother, our sister, our son, our daughter, our neighbor. We have to make it very personal because you know, in fact, it is those people we love whose lives are being saved. They’re being protected every time a speed camera goes in. We need everyone in Albany to feel that. We need every member of the legislature to understand they’re holding people’s lives in their hands, and we need them to do the right thing. And I thank you all for doing the right thing.

Go get ‘em. Thank you.